GOVT 2305 - Exam 5

Question 1

1) The constitutional provision that federal judges and justices hold office “during good behavior”

A)   has meant, in effect, that they will serve until they die or choose to retire.	
B)   has eliminated any legal ability by Congress to remove a judge from office.
C)   has removed all presidential influence over judicial policy.
D)   was intended to give voters control over the conduct of federal judges.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

2) The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in legal disputes involving

	A)   foreign diplomats.	
	B)   the president.
	C)   Congress.
	D)   private parties.
	E)   free speech and equal protection issues.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

3) A ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that a drug is dangerous to use and therefore cannot be marketed is an example of regulation for the purpose of

	A)   supply-side safety.	
	B)   demand-side safety.
	C)   equity.
	D)   efficiency.
	E)   profit.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

4) Which of the following statements best describes the relationship today between government and the economy in the United States?

A)   The economy is largely self-regulating.	
B)   The government subsidizes economic interests but otherwise leaves them to operate as they please.
C)   The government is the driving force in the U.S. economy; business has a secondary role.
D)   The government has an important role in regulating and maintaining the U.S. economy.
E)   The government owns most of the means of production in the United States.

Answer 4

D

Question 5

5) A written Supreme Court opinion that, in the absence of a majority opinion, represents the reasoning of most of the justices who side with the winning party is a

	A)   plurality opinion.	
	B)   concurring opinion.
	C)   leading opinion.
	D)   prevailing opinion.
	E)   per   curiam.

Answer 5

A

Question 6

6) The basis for containment policy was the assumption that
A) the Soviet Union could be stopped from achieving its global ambitions only by the forceful use of American power.
B) the spread of nuclear weapons was a danger to the world and must be prevented.
C) trade should be tailored to benefit the fully industrialized nations through the formation of economic communities.
D) an arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. would inevitably escalate and therefore must be prevented through negotiations at an early stage.
E) terrorism could be identified and isolated in specific countries.

Answer 6

A

Question 7

7) The social insurance program Social Security was established in the

	A)   1920s.	
	B)   1930s.
	C)   1940s.
	D)   1950s.
	E)   1960s.

Answer 7

B

Question 8

8) Medicare

A)   is funded through general tax revenues.	
B)   is one of the least popular government programs.
C)   is paid for through a payroll tax.
D)   provides health care to all adults over age 50.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 8

C

Question 9

9) Which of the following is correct about environmental policy?

A)   Environmental regulation has not markedly improved air and water conditions since its initial establishment and growth.	
B)   The Environmental Protection Agency was proposed by a Republican president and enacted by a Democratic Congress.
C)   Conservation and deforestation are the highest-profile environmental issues today in the United States.
D)   The EPA has the authority to levy fines and sanctions on businesses.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 9

B

Question 10

10) A writ of certiorari is

A)   a request to a lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case it has been requested to hear.	
B)   the statement explaining the reasoning behind a Supreme Court decision.
C)   the official transcript of Supreme Court proceedings.
D)   a statement from a group not directly involved in a Supreme Court case, indicating the group's opinion on the legal issue at hand.
E)   an application for a waiver of court fees due to indigence.

Answer 10

A

Question 11

11) Economic efficiency requires

A)   that the free market not be regulated by government.	
B)   that the output of goods and services is the highest possible given the amount of input used to produce them.
C)   the economy to be organized around large firms.
D)   economic transactions to be fair to each party.
E)   economic transactions to be equal to each party.

Answer 11

B

Question 12

12) Which of the following government agencies regulates various aspects of business operations?

A)   Federal Trade Commission	
B)   Interstate Commerce Commission
C)   Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  
D)   all of these: the Federal Trade Commission; the Interstate Commerce Commission; and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 12

D

Question 13

13) The ________ established minimum wages.

	A)   Securities and Exchange Act of 1934	
	B)   Banking Act of 1934
	C)   Airlines Deregulation Act of 1977
	D)   Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
	E)   Homestead Act of 1862

Answer 13

D

Question 14

14) The Social Security benefits that retirees receive are funded primarily by

A)   income tax contributions they made in the past, which were put into a trust fund from which current payments are made.	
B)   payroll taxes on those who worked or are now working.
C)   equal contributions from the national and state governments.
D)   borrowed funds, which contribute to the national debt.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 14

B

Question 15

15) Federal judges are

A)   nominated by the president.	
B)   confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
C)   appointed for an indefinite period, providing they maintain "good behavior."
D)   all of these: nominated by the president, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and appointed for an indefinite period providing they maintain "good behavior."
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 15

D

Question 16

16) Passed in 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act

A)   loosens restrictions on large financial institutions considered "too big to fail."	
B)   allowed low interest rates and small down payments for first-time home buyers and small business entrepreneurs.
C)   empowers government to more closely oversee financial activities.
D)   sought to promote environmental protection, consumer protection, and worker safety.
E)   required warning labels on all "hazardous" consumer goods, such as cigarettes.

Answer 16

C

Question 17

17) A Supreme Court opinion written when the majority of the justices agree on the legal reasoning for the decision is a(n)

	A)   majority opinion.	
	B)   plurality opinion.
	C)   dissenting opinion.
	D)   concurring opinion.
	E)   adjunct opinion.

Answer 17

A

Question 18

18) Federal judges are

A)   nominated by the Senate and approved by both houses of Congress.	
B)   nominated by the president and approved by the Senate.
C)   nominated by the president and approved by both houses of Congress.
D)   elected by majority vote in their respective districts.
E)   elected by majority vote in their respective states.

Answer 18

B

Question 19

19) In 2002, President George W. Bush labeled Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the “________.”

	A)   evil empire	
	B)   coalition of the willing
	C)   axis of evil
	D)   axis powers
	E)   axis of rogue nations

Answer 19

C

Question 20

20) ________ authored Silent Spring in 1962.

	A)   Al Gore	
	B)   George W. Bush
	C)   Greenpeace
	D)   Rachel Carson
	E)   The Sierra Club

Answer 20

D

Question 21

21) The Tennessee Valley Authority is

A)   an electricity industry owned by the United States.	
B)   a private industry regulated by the United States.
C)   a private electricity industry exempt from government regulation.
D)   a private environmental organization that receives federal funding.
E)   a private environmental organization with power to regulate industry.

Answer 21

A

Question 22

22) Regarding Supreme Court procedures, which one of the following statements is NOT accurate?

A)   When part of the majority, the chief justice decides which justice will write the majority opinion.	
B)   A concurring opinion is a view written by a justice who votes with the majority and agrees with its reasoning.
C)   A dissenting opinion is an opinion of a judge who votes against the majority.
D)   Attorneys who argue a case before the Supreme Court operate under strict time limits.
E)   The Court's opinion, not the decision, is used as the primary legal basis for lower court actions based on the decision.

Answer 22

B

Question 23

23) What did Congress do in 1995 to reduce overregulation?

A)   It cut funding for regulatory agencies like the EPA and Securities and Exchange Commission.	
B)   It passed the Airlines Deregulation Act, which eliminated government-set airfares and the requirement that airlines provide service to smaller-sized cities.
C)   It restricted the president's ability to directly request administrative regulations from agency heads.
D)   It cut the budget of the Food and Drug Administration.
E)   It enacted legislation that prohibits administrators in some instances from issuing a regulation unless they can show that its benefits outweigh its costs.

Answer 23

E

Question 24

24) Advocates of deregulation are primarily concerned with

	A)   efficiency.	
	B)   equity.
	C)   externalities.
	D)   public safety.
	E)   political expediency.

Answer 24

A

Question 25

25) Which of the following is a true statement regarding the Cold War?

A)   It never became an actual shooting war between the United States and the Soviet Union.	
B)   The U.S. pursued a policy of containment.
C)   It included U.S. support for governments being threatened by communism.
D)   The global power structure was bipolar.
E)   All these answers are correct.

Answer 25

E

Question 26

26) Since World War II, the United States has engaged in military hostilities roughly ________, usually at the instigation of ________.

	A)   150 times; the president	
	B)   200 times; the Senate
	C)   5 times; the public
	D)   2 times; House of Representatives
	E)   450 times; big corporations

Answer 26

A

Question 27

27) What are the two broad groups that welfare programs fall into?

A)   public assistance and in-kind assistance	
B)   equity and efficiency
C)   positive and negative
D)   social insurance and public assistance
E)   subsidized and social insurance

Answer 27

D

Question 28

28) Social insurance programs have high levels of public support because

A)   of the perception that recipients have earned the benefits.	
B)   they are based on an equality principle—all citizens are eligible for the benefits and all recipients receive the same level of benefits.
C)   their cost is consistently below the spending level for public assistance programs.
D)   of the necessity of increased taxes to fund them.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 28

A

Question 29

29) Roughly how many American soldiers lost their lives in the Vietnam War?

	A)   35,000	
	B)   58,000
	C)   123,000
	D)   427,000
	E)   650,000

Answer 29

B

Question 30

30) Poverty is a condition that today affects roughly one in ________ Americans.

	A)   two	
	B)   three
	C)   seven
	D)   twenty
	E)   fifty

Answer 30

C

Question 31

31) The Supreme Court grants certiorari to fewer than ________ cases each year.

	A)   10	
	B)   30
	C)   50
	D)   75
	E)   100

Answer 31

E

Question 32

32) The poverty line is defined as

A)   the income level below which 10 percent of the American people live.	
B)   three times the annual cost of a thrifty food budget.
C)   the annual cost of all goods and services that a person can reasonably be expected to want.
D)   the percentage of homeless people.
E)   the income level below which 20 percent of the American people live.

Answer 32

B

Question 33

33) For the United States, the lesson learned from the Vietnam War was that

A)   public opinion could be ignored by leaders during wartime.	
B)   nuclear weapons had utility in a war of insurgency.
C)   there were limits on America's ability to get its own way in the world.
D)   the national interest required a total disengagement from Asian affairs.
E)   constant bombing will force an enemy to concede defeat.

Answer 33

C

Question 34

34) Which of the following events in American foreign policy occurred first?

	A)   Korean War	
	B)   war in Kosovo
	C)   Vietnam War
	D)   fall of the Soviet Union
	E)   Persian Gulf War

Answer 34

A

Question 35

35) Which of the following is true about the Vietnam War?

A)   U.S. combat forces left Vietnam in 1973.	
B)   North Vietnamese forces took over the country in 1975.
C)   It was the most painful and costly application of the containment doctrine.
D)   U.S. forces were technically superior in combat to the communist fighters, although the war had no front lines and few set battles.
E)   All these answers are correct.

Answer 35

E

Question 36

36) The Great Recession, which began in 2008, was precipitated primarily because the federal government was too lax in regulating

	A)   computer technology.	
	B)   the buying and selling of stocks.
	C)   interest rates charged to banks.
	D)   subprime mortgages.
	E)   the buying and selling of junk bonds.

Answer 36

D

Question 37

37) What are the constitutional requirements for being a federal judge?

A)   at least 30 years old and a citizen of the United States	
B)   at least 25 years old and a citizen of the United States
C)   at least 30 years old and a resident of the specific judicial district
D)   at least 30 years old and a lawyer in good standing with the state bar
E)   There are no constitutional requirements for being a federal judge.

Answer 37

E

Question 38

38) The term externalities refers to

A)   regulations imposed on a firm by government.	
B)   a nation that is a trading partner of another nation.
C)   the costs of production that are incurred by society.
D)   tariffs imposed on American goods exported to other countries.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 38

C

Question 39

39) Compared with the decision in a Supreme Court case, the opinion is more significant because it

A)   determines the losing party in a case and the penalty to be imposed on this party.	
B)   reveals the conflicts between the justices, which the president and Congress can use in determining their position on judicial appointments and new legislation.
C)   informs others of the Court's interpretation of the laws and thereby guides their decisions.
D)   addresses the constitutional aspects of a case, whereas the decision addresses the statutory aspects.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 39

C

Question 40

40) Why are administrative costs relatively high for food stamp and Medicaid programs?

A)   widespread eligibility that swells recipient rolls	
B)   the need to administer payroll taxes
C)   the need for constant monitoring of means and means testing
D)   constant public opposition to the programs
E)   All these answers are correct.

Answer 40

C

Question 41

41) A concurring opinion

A)   explains the chief justice's position on a case.	
B)   is a separate view written by a justice who votes with the majority but disagrees with its reasoning.
C)   is delivered when the Court interprets a constitutional issue.
D)   is delivered when at least two justices, but less than a majority, hold the same opinion in a case.
E)   explains why the Court accepted the case in the first place.

Answer 41

B

Question 42

42) How was President George W. Bush able to convince Americans that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was necessary?

A)   He used the news media to carry his message.	
B)   He relied on his allies in the Democratic Party, like Hillary Clinton, to make his case to the public.
C)   He offered compelling evidence .
D)   He let his congressional opponents take the limelight and discredit themselves.
E)   He repeatedly invoked Saddam Hussein's failed assassination plot against his father, George H. W. Bush.

Answer 42

A

Question 43

43) In which of the following situations is the Supreme Court most likely to grant certiorari?

A)   A state government has a legal conflict with a city government.	
B)   A lower court ruling conflicts with a previous Supreme Court ruling.
C)   The justices believe a lower court made a mistake in a routine ruling.
D)   A key issue in state law must be settled.
E)   Lower courts have made the same consistent but incorrect ruling on a single issue.

Answer 43

B

Question 44

44) In 2018, the poverty line was about ________ in annual income for a family of four.

	A)   $19,000	
	B)   $26,000
	C)   $28,000
	D)   $33,000
	E)   $38,000

Answer 44

B

Question 45

45) Roughly how many American soldiers lost their lives in the Korean War?

	A)   1,000	
	B)   5,000
	C)   35,000
	D)   155,000
	E)   500,000

Answer 45

C

Question 46

46) Which of the following is a social insurance program?

	A)   TANF	
	B)   Medicaid
	C)   food stamps
	D)   Medicare
	E)   All these answers are correct.

Answer 46

D

Question 47

47) How long do federal judges serve?

	A)   two years	
	B)   four years
	C)   eight years
	D)   ten years
	E)   until they retire, die, or are removed through the impeachment and conviction process

Answer 47

E

Question 48

48) A written Supreme Court opinion that disagrees with what the majority of the justices decided is a(n)

	A)   majority opinion.	
	B)   plurality opinion.
	C)   dissenting opinion.
	D)   concurring opinion.
	E)   adjunct opinion.

Answer 48

C

Question 49

49) The creation of the Food and Drug Administration and the passage of the Securities and Exchange Act were intended to

A)   promote equity in the economy.	
B)   eliminate the problem of externalities in the economy.
C)   destroy the legal foundations of the business trust.
D)   promote efficiency in the economy.
E)   None of these answers are correct.

Answer 49

A

Question 50

50) The Progressive Era of government regulation focused on

A)   strengthening consumer protection by preventing credit agencies from gouging individuals with high levels of debt.	
B)   bolstering worker safety by increasing the power of unions and forcing better safety practices on businesses.
C)   increasing environmental protection and strengthening the EPA.
D)   regulating troubled economic sectors, such as banking.
E)   stopping corrupt business practices, such as the selling of unsafe food and drugs.

Answer 50

E